Brake pipes split with no sign of corrosion

You need to get a second opinion from an independent engineer. No one on here can tell you what happened.

Was it a metal pipe or a flexible?

It was flexible.

Flexibles can be damaged during pad fitting either by clamping or twisting usually. They rarely fail from old age without warning signs on the outside first .

and by the monkeys in the garage leaving the calipers hanging from them.

================================== Is there no dual braking on your car?

Cic.

Dave Baker submitted this idea :

If it is a not too old car - less than maybe 20 years (dual circuit), then a split pipe would only take one braking circuit out, rather than all of the brakes. How certain are you that a pipe actually split, did they show you the actual pipe?

I make a habit of applying maximum force on the pedal, with it parked engine running. It forms a rough pressure test of the system and might avoid a possible failure on the road.

Very possible. A couple of years ago, my wife took her car for an MOT. The brake pipes and flexis passed the visual inspection during the MOT then one blew whilst on the brake tester.

It's not bullshit and you should stop bandying around threats of legal action. You would have to be very unlucky to end up dead as cars have dual systems precisely in case this happens.

I put my foot on the brake, it started to slow then my foot went straight to the floor. After that I had less than 20% of normal braking ability. No way I could have stopped if I had been travelling at speed. They inspected it and said over the phone that the pipe had split. Considering they were supposed to be giving it a full service should they have spotted this fault during that service?

Did you read my post about my wifes passing visual inspection on an MOT then failing on the brake tester?

Sometimes they just fail. You cannot, for example, spot if the crimped on end is about to let go.

My Astra had dual circuit braking. A rear wheel cylinder let go and all the fluid drained from the system through it. Had no brakes whatsoever just as I reached home. Brakes don't work when there's no fluid in the system.

But the circuit *without* the failed cylinder would have fluid in it.

Chris

================================== Hydraulic brakes certainly don't work when there's no fluid in the system but a dual circuit system is designed to ensure that there isn't total fluid loss if one circuit fails. Is the Astra system non-standard?

Cic.

Perhaps, I may be mistaken.

Yes it is *perfectly* possible.

You would only be dead if you had reason to brake hard and were otherwise unable to run into the back of the vehicle you were following.

You could also be dead because of a falling asteroid.

Or you could be dead because the brakes worked perfectly but you lost control of the car and hit something substantial.

I'd like you be skeptical about their explanation, but imo having been there, legal action for something in that price range is more hassle than it's worth. I'd tow the car home, look at the fault myself and get a good idea of what it entailed, see if it really is the flexible hose. If it is, I would pay someone else to fix it, and avoid lying on my back in the cold!

I had an exhaust centre lied to me last year. Once I knew the fault, I went back and gave the owner some verbal. I told him I neded his details for the Trading Standards report. I had no intention of taking any formal action but it made me feel better to tell him off. Tony

Having had sudden complete hydraulic brake failure (single circuit, 1957 VW Kombi) going down a very steep hill towards a T-junction, let me assure everyone that handbrake + gearbox is a good combination for getting you stopped.

The biggest problem of course, is the thinking to do it.

John

Aren't dual circuit brakes an emergency thing?

i.e. you're pretty certain to have enough braking effort left on the second circuit to stop safely and get it fixed, but not necessarily enough to, for instance, drive a fair distance home at normal speeds.

=================================== It's to ensure that you don't lose all braking. I think the most common configuration is that one front wheel is paired with the diagonally opposite rear wheel. It's obviously a very strong warning that repair is urgent, but having said that driving a reasonable get-you-home distance shouldn't cause any problems. Provided that you take care when braking and only brake gently (ready to correct any steering problems) then it should be safe as long as your 'normal speed' isn't about 90mph!

Cic.